Hi there,

Congrats on the 2nd and final round! :-)

Regarding your questions:

1. Not necessarily. Interviewers care about how you solve the case including your thinking and communication rather than being able to discuss domain-specific topics. Interviewer cases are usually taken from their own experience, yet Operations partners might also work on something completely unrelated to their practice and take the case from these engagements. Based on what I have seen I'd give it a 50/50 chance that you will solve actual function-specific cases in the final round.
2. I'll have a couple of McKinsey cases, which is the closest you will find to the real interview. Happy to share if you reach out!

More info on 2nd rounds in general

95% of partner rounds are just as standardized as the first round. The reason why you read about freestyle partner experiences is that they deviate from what people expect, hence they post about it more frequently online, hence giving others the impression it is much more common.

Additionally, partner rounds are often perceived as more challenging, just because it's a partner sitting across the table rather than a more junior colleague. It is purely based on the impression and not on the content. :-)

If there are any deviations from the standard McKinsey interviewer guidelines, expect them to be in the following realm:

• Focus on one or two areas where you were perceived as not as strong in round one, which can be specific case questions or PEI stories
• Only doing a case, only doing PEI instead of both
• Doing two shorter cases in quick succession
• Challenging your answers more
• Not providing any time for you to think about the answer, making it more conversational
• Asking standard fit questions besides PEI

In any case, the most important thing is not to be startled by this and just keep working on the case or the PEI in a calm manner. In order to do that, have a look at the following two articles that I wrote:

Case: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-interview

PEI: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-pei

All the best for your second round!

Cheers,

Florian

Hello!

Congratulations on those 3 interviews!

I don´t have 1st hand experience on the type of cases that you will get. However, what is always true about the 2nd round is the higher important of the FIT part, that is also longer than in the 1st round. 

If you want to deep dive on the topic, the "Integrated FIT guide for MBB" has been recently published in PrepLounge´s shop (https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/integrated-fit-guide-for-mbb-34)

It provides an end-to-end preparation for all three MBB interviews, tackling each firms particularities and combining key concepts review and a hands-on methodology. Following the book, the candidate will prepare his/her stories by practicing with over 50 real questions and leveraging special frameworks and worksheets that guide step-by-step, developed by the author and her experience as a Master in Management professor and coach. Finally, as further guidance, the guide encompasses over 20 examples from real candidates.

Furthermore, you can find 3 FREE Expert Articles on PreLounge, in a sreies dedicated to preparing for the different parts of FIT:

1. https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/cv-interview-questions

2. https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/motivational-fit-interview-questions

3. https://www.preplounge.com/en/behavioral-interview-questions

Feel free to PM me for disccount codes for the Integrated FIT Guide, since we still have some left from the launch

Hope it helps! 

Hi Diana,

Most likely you will have at least one case related to Operations. However you could have other types of cases as well. It is difficult to predict how many exactly - I helped candidates who had 1 case out of 3 and others who had all of them related to operations in their final round.

In case you have other questions please feel free to PM me, I helped several candidates for the McKinsey Operation practice and know 15+ real questions they asked. 

Best,

Francesco

Hi Diana,

While it's possible you may only get ops/supply chain you shouldn't bet on it!

Yes, you should make sure you understand and practice Manu + supply chain cases. But, you should also prepare for any range (and all ranges) of possibilities!

Here's some reading to help with your casing mindset: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

Hi Diana,,

Great tips given by other coaches.

In addition, if you need help with Operations/Supply Chain cases, feel free to send me a direct message. This is my expertise and I have plenty of cases for practice. Such cases are hard to find online otherwise.

Check out this one I have published on PL: https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/candidate-led-usual-style/advanced/educateearth-digital-operations-transformation-220

Hello,

Interviewers choose their own cases and you are likely interviewed by consultants or partners from your own practice. Therefore, it’s more likely to receive a case specific to your practice as you suggest, but no guarantees!

Best,

Allen

Hi Diana, 

Congrats on getting to the final round!

No - I would aim to practice across different industries and topics unless specifically told so by the recruiter. The interviewers are meant to assess your skills and less so your industry / functional knowledge and as a consequence don't have an obligation to test you only in one particular scenario.